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Georgia Wild E-Newsletter: January-February 2008

WILD factsBrown anoles?
If you move a log or stone this winter, you might find a small brown lizard, the green anole, hibernating underneath. Why is this reptile brown and not green at this time of year? Green anoles change colors depending on their activity level (not to match surroundings, as true chameleons do). When cold and sluggish, these lizards are usually brown. But on warm winter days, green anoles may move around and bask in the sun. In that case, they'll probably be green. (E-mail wildlife interpretive specialist Linda May at linda.may@gadnr.org for more on WILD facts.)

In educationThese classes are wild
Learning about the outdoors in Georgia is almost as easy as A, B, C. Youth can take part in wildlife education contests this spring such as the Give Wildlife a Chance poster competition and the Youth Birding Competition art contest. Wildlife Resources' regional education centers also offer classes to fit almost any bent, be it identifying birds or learning how plants and animals weather winter. Teachers become students at specialized programs such as the forestry workshop this June at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center and the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia's annual conference March 14-16 at Unicoi State Park. Learn more.

Legislative updatesClimate-sized funding
Wildlife managers nationwide are tracking climate change legislation that could increase state wildlife funding. The current leader is the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 2191). Bound for the Senate floor after clearing a committee in December, the bill marks 18 percent of revenues from a proposed carbon permit auction -- as much as $9 billion a year -- for natural resources adaptation. Thirty-five percent will go to state agencies for wildlife and habitat work related to climate change. Meanwhile, Congress passed a fiscal 2008 appropriations bill packing $73.8 million for the State Wildlife Grants Program, a $6.3 million increase. President Bush's approval is expected.

Up closeSmooth purple coneflowerEchinacea laevigataFamily: Aster or sunflower family.Status: Federally and state listed as endangered; globally imperiled.Found in: Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia. (Considered extirpated in Pennsylvania.) Georgia has about 25 known sites, most on the Chattahoochee National Forest in Stephens County.Habitat: Semi-dry meadows and oak/pine, rocky woodland on basic or near-neutral soils. Amphibolite rock outcrops are common to most Georgia sites.Description: 2- to 4-foot-tall perennial with flowering heads composed of numerous disk flowers at center encircled by 13-21 ray flowers, each with a single, pale purple petal.Flowers: Late May to early July. Fruits mature July-October.Comeback: Nongame Conservation staff and other members of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance are restoring habitat through prescribed burning and removing woody competitors. In November, more than 300 1-year-old coneflowers were planted at three Stephens County sites. The lack of natural fires has degraded coneflower habitat at many sites.Quotable: "This is one of those no-brainer projects. It's very unlikely we will not succeed." Nongame Conservation botanist Mincy Moffett

By the numbersNorth Atlantic right whales

400: estimated population

22: calves born in 2007, six so far this season

8: whales spotted entangled in fishing gear

4: whale deaths documented during the past year

3314: The number given a juvenile female. Dubbed "Yellowfin," she was freed from 300 feet of lobster gear in 2004 and spotted off the Georgia/Florida coast in December 2007.

Source: WRD

Noteworthy

Weekend for Wildlife's platinum anniversary is proving golden. Registration for the Feb. 8-9 nongame fund-raiser filled by December, a first in the event's 20 years.

Nest counts of federally endangered wood storks dropped from a record high of 1,918 in 2006 to an estimated 1,054 last year. Biologists blame drought that sapped freshwater wetlands the storks need for feeding and nesting.

Have wings, will travel: A dunlin banded in Alaska last summer by Nongame Conservation program manager Brad Winn and others was photographed in November in Taiwan, 4,000-plus miles away.

"Georgia Wild" is a bi-monthly electronic newsletter produced by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division and focused on conserving nongame species. The newsletter is delivered free to subscribers. Subscribe at www.georgiawildlife.com.

The WRD Nongame Conservation Section conserves and protects Georgia's diversity of native animals and plants and their habitats through research, management and education. Staff conduct research and surveys, identify critical habitats, implement species and habitat restoration programs, promote awareness of wildlife conservation needs, provide guidance for managing private lands for the benefit of nongame wildlife, and develop management plans for state-owned natural areas.

Welcome ...
to "Georgia Wild," a Georgia Wildlife Resources Division
e-newsletter devoted to nongame wildlife. Every other month, "Georgia Wild" will offer the latest on the division's work with the state's diverse natural habitats and nongame species. Let me know what you think at mike.harris@gadnr.org. And please forward this to a friend. They can sign up here. It's fast and free.

Mike Harris, chief of WRD Nongame Conservation Section

Power towers key for kestrels
Nesting pairs of American kestrels have become quite uncommon in Georgia. The landscape has changed from the open forests and even rolling prairies of 200 years ago that favored grassland specialists like this smallest falcon. The availability of natural nest
sites such as abandoned woodpecker cavities has also dwindled.
Yet, some kestrels have adapted to nesting in hollow, high-voltage transmission towers and foraging along power-line rights of way in southern Georgia. Recent research by Georgia Southern University professor John Parrish and his students has revealed how important these rights of way are and how they can be managed for kestrels. These populations -- likely the southeastern American kestrel subspecies -- are the largest in the state and possibly even the Southeast.
The study funded by Nongame Conservation, with help from Georgia Power Co. and The Environmental Resources Network (T.E.R.N.), showed that adding nest boxes at the sites helps, a critical point as older hollow towers are replaced with versions that do not provide nesting sites.
By partnering with Georgia Power, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) and other power-line rights of way owners and managers, the aim is to implement a conservation strategy to ensure kestrel nest sites along these lines and possibly others. For more.

Phil Spivey and Jim Ozier

Nongame work aids other wildlife
Jason Wisniewski hopes to spend 40 days hunting deer and small game this season. But in November, the freshwater mussel specialist with Wildlife Resources' Nongame Conservation Section was hunting for endangered mussels on the Apalachicola River in Florida.
Wisniewski sees no disconnect between his recreation and occupation. Mussels are part of a living foundation encompassing all creatures and habitats. "They're all really linked together," he said.
The connections are clear in Georgia, where nongame projects also benefit game animals, their habitats and sportsmen. The crossover includes public land (nongame donations and grants helped the state Department of Natural Resources acquire more than 34,000 acres since 2002), habitat management such as prescribed burning, outreach and research, and more bang for Wildlife Resources' buck. Nongame Conservation chief Mike Harris said that over the last five years, every $1 of nongame money spent on conservation has been matched with $1.90 from federal grants and other sources.
Underlying all is a wide-angle view of wildlife. "The presence of nongame wildlife enriches the experience for everyone," Harris said. For more.

Did you know?

The Nongame Conservation Section is charged with conserving endangered and other nongame species, work guided by the State Wildlife Action Plan.

The section receives no state money, depending instead on donations, fund raising and grants.

Wildlife license plates made up two-thirds or more than $10.5 million of the section's fund-raisers from 2004-2007.

The "Give Wildlife a Chance" state income tax checkoff accounted for 8%; the annual Weekend for Wildlife, 16%.

The nongame license plates program turns 10 this year. The first plate went on sale in February 1997. The program has raised more than $23 million.

To help: Buy a wildlife plate, donate via the income tax checkoff or directly to Nongame Conservation, (770) 761-3035. You can also join The Environmental Resources Network (T.E.R.N.), the section's friends group. Details: (478) 994-1438.

Clement's search expanded the bats' known range in Georgia.

Big find for state's big-eared bats
A summer spent slogging through Georgia swamps with a flashlight in hand has shed light on the range and favored shelter of secretive Rafinesque's big-eared bats.
In research funded by Nongame Conservation and the University of Georgia, Matt Clement, a graduate student in UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, hoped to find 30 of the rare mammals, a total roughly equal to previous records of the species in the state. He also wanted to identify the bat's roosting habitat.
But Clement's systematic probing along river bottoms in three management areas turned up about 565 Rafinesque's big-eared bats. The fieldwork also pinpointed water tupelo trees as key roost sites. Why water tupelos? Likely because they grow big, hollow and in flood-prone areas less accessible to logging, Clement said.
The findings expand the bat's known distribution in Georgia and "deeply refine" understanding of its habitat preferences, Clement said. According to nongame program manager Jim Ozier, the data can help conserve the forest-dwelling bats, a high-priority species in the state's Wildlife Action Plan, and protect older trees with cavities.
"Nothing but time can produce these mature trees," Ozier said. For more.

Winter's chill brings birding thrills
Amateur and expert birders are polishing their binoculars and putting on warm jackets for the winter birding survey season. And why not? Participation is fun, simple and free.
First up, what will winter bring to your bird feeder? Project FeederWatch participants survey birds at feeders from the second Saturday in November to early April. Results help scientists monitor changes in bird populations.
Got a busy schedule? Try the Great Backyard Bird Count! Bird watchers of all ages will count birds for as little or as long as they wish Feb. 15-18. Then they'll fill out an online checklist.
Young birders are gearing up for the annual Youth Birding Competition, a 24-hour bird-a-thon May 2-3 at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center near Mansfield. Participation is free and open to teams ages K-12th grade. To help learn Georgia's birds, pre-registered teams are paired with birding mentors for workshops and other events before the contest. Register by March 31.
Watchers can help in the bald eagle's comeback by reporting possible eagle nesting activity this winter to Nongame Conservation biologists. This majestic bird's population has soared from one nesting pair in Georgia to more than 100. On Jan. 28, some nongame biologists will also join volunteer birding experts as they scan Georgia's barrier island beaches in an annual mid-winter waterbird survey. Survey overviews.

$1.6B spent watching Georgia wildlife
Pat yourself on the backpack: People who photograph, feed or simply watch wildlife in Georgia spent an eye-popping $1.6 billion in 2006, according to a trends-tracking U.S. Fish and Wildlife survey.
The estimate tops the state's previous high in that category among comparable surveys: $994 million spent in 1996 on what is commonly called wildlife watching.
A state overview of the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation suggests that a rebound in participation helped. More than 1.8 million people, or 28 percent of Georgia residents 16 and older, took part in wildlife watching activities. That's up from 1.3 million in 2001 and the most since 1991, when survey methods changed.

Ranger reports This turtle probe won't let go: An 18-month undercover probe into illegal trade in protected turtles still has bite. "Operation Snapper," which included Georgia, four other states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, closed in 2005 with more than 1,000 state and federal felony and misdemeanor counts against 50 people. Six charged by Georgia and federal officers with shipping alligator snapping turtles across state lines pleaded guilty and paid fines totaling $4,215.
Other prosecutions continue. In a case set for trial early this year, a Lawrenceville man faces 21 state charges involving more than 400 protected turtles found at his home. Four others indicted in the case on felony violations pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in federal court.

Sgt. Steve Seitz, Region II

One whale of a job: Rangers on Georgia's coast are helping safeguard an oceanic version of the needle in a haystack: North Atlantic right whales, one of the world's most endangered marine mammals.
For the past three winters, when pregnant right whales migrate to calving grounds off Georgia, South Carolina and northeastern Florida, rangers have run patrols to educate boaters about the whales and enforce a federal rule barring boats from coming within 500 yards of one. Strikes by ships and large boats are one of the leading causes of death for the slow-swimming whales, which often rest just below the surface.
Officers also hand out literature on the whales, answer reports of violations, report sightings to state biologists and spotter planes, notify container ships about whales in shipping channels, and help in efforts to disentangle whales caught in fishing gear.

Capt. Stephen Adams, Region VII

Adult female right whales swimming south off the North Carolina coast in November.